The news of the stop to support for Android applications in Windows 11 dates back to March 6, 2024. With a surprise decision, Microsoft suddenly opted to abandon WSA (Windows Subsystem for Android)which is the subsystem designed and developed to run Android apps in Windows 11.
While WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), or the ability to run Linux on Windows, remains rooted not only in Windows 11 but even in Windows 10 (the addition of new interesting features in WSL is recent), the company led by Satya Nadella does not consider it profitable, and indeed even expensive and counterproductive, to continue investing in WSA.
The reasons for abandoning WSA, Windows Subsystem for Android, in Windows 11
Revealing the reasons for the abandonment of WSA in Windows 11 starting from March 5, 2025 (therefore in a year) is Andrew Clinick, former Partner Group Program Manager WSA. In a series of posts on .
Yes, because as we have seen in another article, it is officially possible to install and use Android apps in Windows 11 only by using theAmazon App Store. Even if, in reality, it is actually possible to upload any file APK and run any application in Windows 11, even those not in the Amazon App Store.
The idea of the Amazon store integrated into WSA didn’t work
Clinick adds again: “Revenues from the Amazon store help pay the bills and salaries of WSA team members“. In short, if there is not enough interest and users do not buy, the sustainability of the entire project is lost. “WSL is connected with Azure and with Visual Studio, so it generates some profit“.
On the other hand, the lack of interest expressed by Google towards WSA contributed to the premature end of the project. Using “roundabout ways” it is possible to bring the Google Play Store to Windows 11: without official support, however, it is impossible that the Android ecosystem, in fact largely controlled by the Mountain View giant, can somehow integrate with Windows .
In 2015, Windows 10 Mobile allowed the installation of Android apps (Project Astoria) in an attempt to solve the problem of not having enough applications for the Microsoft platform. After a short period of testing, however, Microsoft decided to pull the plug, confirming the definitive closure of the project. Several years later, history repeats itself. This time with Windows 11 as the protagonist.
Opening image credit: iStock.com – Microsoft Copilot Designer.